Paul Hartal (born 1936) is a Canadian painter and poet, born in Szeged, Hungary. He has created the term "Lyrical Conceptualism" to characterize his style in both painting and poetry, and has created a manifesto to describe his thesis.[1]

Hartal paints in an expressionistic style with additional elements such as photographs.

"Lyrical Conceptualism does not impose any formal limitations on the artist’s freedom. It merely suggests. Instead of competition it advocates cooperation. In our post-industrial society, science and technology determine our lifestyle. Consequently, art must concern itself with science and technology. However, science and technology should not be our masters but our servants" (1975).

Hartal has published books of poetry, a book outlining his manifesto, and a novel. He has had solo exhibitions in Germany, New York, Montreal, and Montreux. His work is in the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and other galleries in Italy, Israel, and Korea.

The art critic Balint Szombathy notes that lyrical conceptualism encapsulates no less a fusion of polarities than the term-amalgams of lyrical expressionism, or lyrical abstraction. It is possible to characterize these diametrically opposed juxtapositions, he says, as attempts to equalize incompatible elements for the sake of synthesis.

However, in introducing the notion of Lycoism, Hartal did not intend to form a new post-conceptualist splinter-trend; instead, his intention was the creation of a new philosophy of art in which the tearing down of the boundaries between art and science, the interlacement of the intuitive and the exact, and incorporation of the lyrical and the geometrical play a central role.[6]

Lyco art identifies the meaning of art with its life-serving purpose. Concerning itself with cultural transformation and the human condition, it seeks to expand the boundaries of aesthetics.[7]

Lyco Art creates a conscious bridge between the impulsive, intuitional, and planned elements of the creative process,[8] thereby moving along the whole continuum of formative energies. This creative process represents the interaction of emotion and intellect, wherein the passion of logic and the logic of passion are inexorably interwoven through the voyage of aesthetic consciousness.

In addition, since science and technology impact so much of modern lifestyle during the electronic age, Lycoism views the relationship of art, science, and technology as a pivotal concern. Lycoism refuses to polarize science and art; instead, it seeks to unify aesthetics and ethics in works which involve the use of science and technology by the artist in the creation of beauty.